Horizontal and vertical spacing mechanism for chinese typewriters



June 5, 1951 E. BUHLER HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL SPACING MECHANISM FOR CHINESE TYPEWRITERS Filed June 16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 5 190/145 ATTORNEY E. BUHLER HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL SPACING MECHANISM June 5, 1951 FOR CHINESE TYPEWRITERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 16, 1948 Mom I lv

Patented June 5, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL SPACING MECHANISM FOR CHINESE TYPE- WRITERS Application June 16, 1948, Serial No. 33,343

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to ideographic printing machines, particularly machines for printing the Chinese language, and is an improvement upon the machine disclosed in application Serial No.

666,980, filed May 3, 1946, by E. Buhler and C. A. Berry, now Patent No. 2,458,339, granted J anuary 4, 1949. The primary object of the present invention is to provide for the printing of both modern and classical Chinese.

Modern Chinese, like the English language, has the characters spaced in a sequence from left to right in a horizontal line, whereas the classical Chinese has the characters spaced in a vertical row in a sequence from top to bottom.

The machine disclosed in the above application is designed to print only modern Chinese and in the practical use of this machine it has been discovered that there are a great many cases where it is desired to print classical Chinese and it is very desirable that it be possible to print either one at the operators discretion. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide selective means enabling the operator to set the machine for printing of either modem or classical Chinese.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the carriage of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a view in the direction of the arrows 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in the direction of the arrows 3-3 in Fig. 1.

' Fig. 4 is a vertical section showing the power mechanism for operating the carriage return clutch.

Fig. 5 is a detail View of the escapement pawl release mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a view of the carriage return clutch and the contacts associated therewith.

Fig. '7 is a wiring diagram.

In Fig. l, the reference numeral I designates the carriage side plates which are joined together by a channel shaped track member II which is slidably mounted on the front rail 12 and the rear rail 13 by means of suitable antifriction bearings I 4. The carriage is provided with a character spacing mechanism which includes the spacing pawls l (Figs. 2 and 50. The

specific manner of operation of these pawls is not of particular concern in the present application, but it will be understood that, after each character printing operation in printing modern Chinese, the pawls l5 are automatically operated to space the carriage the proper extent to cause successive characters to be written in a horizontal line from left to right on the wor sheet W.

In order to write classical Chinese, it is necessary that the work sheet W (Fig. 1) be moved vertically the equivalent of a line space with reference to the operation of printing modern Chinese, and that the vertical columns or lines of characters be spaced horizontally by an operation of the pawls I 5. This is exactly the reverse of spacing for the writing of modern Chinese. In order to effect this result, means are provided to hold the carriage I0 stationaryand prevent normal spacing operations by means of pawls [5 from taking place when a character is printed and at the same time cause an operation of the line spacing mechanism to space the characters vertically.

For the purpose of holding the carriage stationary, there is provided an auxiliary rack l1 (Figs. 1, 2, and 3) which is secured to the edge of the escapement rack IS, the rack IT being sandwiched between two shroud straps [8 which are wider than the rack ll. Cooperating with the rack II, as best shown in Fig. 3, is a detent member I9 in the form of a lever pivoted at 2| a in a frame 2| secured to the front rail l2 and spaced therefrom by means of spacing blocks 22. The longer end of the lever I9 is guided in a slot formed in a bent-over lug 21b (Fig. 2) formed in they frame 2|. The lever I9 is provided with. a tooth l9a adapted to engage the teeth of the rack II when the lever I9 is rocked clockwise (Fig. 3) and thereby hold the carriage l0 against movement counter to the normal character spacingmovement in writing modern Chinese. .The lever I9 is normally held in re tracted position by a spring 22.

The lever I9 is operated by avertical spacing magnet VSM (Fi 1) mounted in a frame 23 secured to the main framework of the machine. Coacting with the magnet VSM is an armature 24 which is pivotally mounted at 25 on the frame 23 and is adjustably secured to a lever 26, also pivotally mounted at 25. The free end of the armature 24 extends into a slot 23a formed in the frame 23 which limits movement of the armature. Normally the armature is held against the upper wallof the slot by means of a com- (Figs. 1 and 2) of the lever Hi. It is clear that; the energizing of the magnet VSM-will-causethe lever 26 to be rocked countercl'oclcvvise: ('Fig l thereby rocking lever 28 clockwise and depressing the right-hand arm (Fig. 2) of the lever l9. ThlS elevates the lug |9a (Fig. 3 lot lever I9 into. a-

tooth space in the rack I1 thereby preventing movement of the carriage to the right in Fig. 2; that is, in a carriage return direction.

The machine, as disclosed in application Serial. No. 666,980, is equipped with a carriage return and line spacing mechanism which is similar in principle to the one disclosed in Patent 2.2001767; mechanism includes' a c'arriage return clutch 30 (Fig. 6 which is operated by thelevert l which is pivoted; at 32a" to a bracket 32 carried by the framework of the machine. The -lever'iil i's com posed o'f'two members adjustably secured together and shifted by 'a toggle including a lever 33 (Figs. Z'and 6).- Wlien the lever 33 is rocked counterclockwise (Fig. 2), the toggle is straightened past the dead center position thereby" actuati'n'g the upper end of the 'l'ever 3 I in a. direction tocngage the ciutch 36. 'I'his'cau'sestne carriage return tape to be placed undertension and operates: the use space mechanism which causes feeding of the worksheet oneor more line spaces; depending u on the Setting of the lever which controls the line: space mechanism.

As" describedin application Serial No. 666,980, the lever 33' isoper'at'ed in: the. manner described by a c'a'm' unit 35 pivoted at 36' in the main. framework: and cooperating with a power roller 31 which rotates in the direction. or the arrow while the machine is"v in use. This cam unit is of a typ well known in the art and neednot be described in detail herein; The cam unit i's rendered operative' by the'power' roller by" means: of a lever 38 plication Serial No; 666,980; the magnet CRM is energized under the control". of the carria e return' key whenever the carriage return. contacts CRC I' (Fig. 7) are closed" to energize" the magnet CRM. This" renders the cam unit- 35 operable by the power roller 31 in a well known way and actuates the lever 33' in: a counterclockwise diection (Fig. 2') by drawing down a-liiik 35w pivotally connected to the camunit 35. This, as explained: in the foregoing application, renders the carriage return clutch operative to return thecarria'ge and line space the work sheet W.' In the present case, it necessary to" preventthe return-ing of the carriage, but tc permit the line spacing operation to proceed. The lever I9 through. the lug |9a prevents movement of the carriage under control of the carriage return tape and this result is accomplishedv by placing the magnets VSM, CRM in parallel by means of switch S I which is closed whenever it is desired to print classical Chinese.

ordinarily is effected by means of a lever 4| (Figs; 1 and 2) pivoted at |3a on the rear rail |3. This lever is also used to effect release of the pawls l5 when it is desired to move the carriage by hand or to effect release of the carriage during a tabulating operation, as explained in the. above application. In order to release the pawls IS, the lever 4| is provided with a lug 4|a (Figs. 2 and 5) which extends into the planes of pawls 5 between the. rack. i6. and said. pawls and to the right of the ivot a of thepawls.

It is clear in Fig. 2 that the rocking of the lever 4| in a counterclockwise direction will release the pawls: I5 from the rack l6. For the purpose of 1 effecting such movement during a normal carriage return operation, there is provided the carriage' return: trip lever 42 which is pivoted at |3b 'to the rear rail and connected by a link 43 to one arm of the lever 44. This lever is pivoted at I30 to the rear rail I3 and. its other arm has a link connection 45' with a. lever. 46; The link 351;" is connected tothe'lever 33- bymeans of a slotted block 4''!' having apin 41a engaging aslot in. the end of'th'e lever 33- and the link 35a:- is threaded into a hole inthe block 41 and pivotally connected to the lever 46. The lever '46 is pivoted at.- 48 to the framework of the machine. 1

The: lever: 42 is a part customarily present in carriage return mechanisms for'the: purpose of releasing the carriage return clutch. when theicarriagereaches the left-hand marginal position. It is customarily made in two parts-,.the:li-nk 43ibei-ng connected toan arm 43'a'(Fig. 5) pivoted at-42a on" lever 42. The two are connected by a stilt spring 4312' which compels the: parts 4-2,'43a,, 43:1; to operate as: a single lever unless lever 42 is blocked? against counterclockwise movement (Fig. 5)- as happens'when the platen is line-spaced with. the carriagein the left-hand marginal position. Under. these. conditions, lever 42. is blocked by themarginal stop in awell-known way and spring 431) stretched. The tension in spring. 43b prevents the toggle, of which lever 33 ispart; from locking beyond the dead. center position, andreleases the clutch immediately after the platen has been line-spaced.

' In order toline-space without returning the carriage and with the carriage held in a. position preventing its return, it is: necessary to prevent the toggle, of which lever 33' is: apart, from looking. beyond the dead center position. This result is efiected by an extension arm 41b (Figs. 2 and 3) secured to the lever 4| and formed with a'dow-nwardly projecting lug 4|c located slightly in front of the left-hand end of the lever I9 but clear thereof, as most clearly shown in Fig; 2. With the lever l9 retracted as in Fig. 3; the lug Me is free to move across the top edge of the lever l9. If the lever I9 is elevated in themanner described above to hold the carriage stationary, the lever moves in front of lug Me to block the counterclockwise releasing movement (Fig. 2) of the lever 4|. 7

Lever 4| has a bent-over lug Md (Figsr 2 and 5') extending into the plane of 1ever42 above its pivot |3b'. When lever 42 isactuated counterclockwise (Fig. 5) by link 43 during the carriage return operation, lever 4| will be rocked counterclockwise (Fig. 2) to release pawls f5 from: the rack Hi to prevent the noise produced by the pawls idly wiping the teeth. If. the magn'et VSM has been energized along with magnet CRM to cause the carriage to be held in an in.- termediate columnar position during a vertical spacing operation, the extension Mb prevents movement of lever '4! thereby also blocking movement of lever 42 owing to the presence of lug Md. As a result, the platen will be rotated but spring 431) will function as described above to release the clutch 30. It will thus be seen that the release of the pawls I5 is prevented and the carriage remains stationary, but the line spacing mechanismwill be operated.

The magnets VSM, CRM ,may be energized in two different ways. When the carriage return key is depressed, the contacts CRCI close and energize both magnets CRM and VSM (Fig. 7) which have the effect of blocking the carriage againstmovement and atthe same time initiating a carriage return operation, which, however, elfects only a vertical spacing operation. As explained in application Serial No. 666,980, the release key is operated automatically after each character printing operation and causes the release key contacts, designated RKC' in Fig. 7, to be closed. This has the effect of energizing both the magnets CRM and VSM and thus producing an automatic spacing operation after each character printing operation with the result that the work sheet W will be spaced vertically instead of horizontally after each character is printed. This result can be effected by depressing the release key manually.

In order to insure proper operation of the carriage blocking mechanism, there is provided the contacts CRC2 (Fig. 6), which are controlled by a bracket 52 which is secured to one of the toggle links operating the lever 3|. These toggle links are swung upwardly, thereby raising the bracket 52 (Fig. 6) when the clutch lever 3| is operated to engage the clutch and permitting the contacts CRCZ to close. These contacts may be adjusted so that they close with a very small amount of initial movement of the bracket 52 thereby insuring that the magnet VSM will be energized early enough and held long enough to efiect the blocking of the carriage before the clutch 30 has gripped sufiiciently to operate the carriage return tape.

When printing classical Chinese it is necessary to prevent the normal operation of the escapement pawls i5 for the single or double space which ordinarily occurs automatically after each character is printed. A simple way of accomplishing this result is to place a switch S2 in series with both the single space magnet M-SS and the double space magnet M-DS of said application as shown in Fig. '7. Opening switch S2 prevents energization of magnets While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention, as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the fo lowing claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for printing the Chinese language, a carriage for a work sheet, carriage return mechanism including a device operated as a preliminary to a carriage return operation to vertically space the work sheet, means to automatically initiate on operation of the carriage return mechanism as an accompaniment to the printing of a Chinese character, and means controlled by the initiating means for locking the 6. carriage against movement during operation of the carriage return mechanism 2. In a machine of the classdescribed, a carriage for the work sheet; means for returning the carriage from a columnar position including means initially operative to character space the work sheet vertically before the carriage is returned, normally ineffective means to prevent return of the carriage from a columnar position, means to initiate operation of the carriage return means and at the same time render effective the preventing means, means normally tending to character space the carriage, and means" to render the initiating means effective and to prevent operation of the carriage character spacing means.

3. In a machine for printing the Chinese language having a carriage, spacing mechanism for the carriage for spacing a work sheet on the carriage horizontally in printing a line of modern Chinese characters, carriage return mechanism including means on the carriage to space vertically the work sheet when printing classical Chinese, and automatic means tending to cause an operation of the spacing mechanism automatically each time a Chinese character is printed; the combination of means rendered effective by the automatic means for preventing movement of the carriage but permitting operation of the vertical spacing means on the carriage so as to vertically space the work sheet after a Chinese character is printed, and means to prevent automatic operation of the carriage spacing mechanism when printing Chinese characters vertically.

4. In a machine for printing the Chinese language having a carriage, spacing mechanism for the carriage for spacing a work sheet on the carriage horizontally in printing a line of modern Chinese characters, carriage return mechanism including means on the carriage to space vertically the work sheet when printing classical Chinese, and automatic means tending to cause an operation of the spacing mechanism automatically each time a Chinese character is printed; the combination of a locking device for preventing movement of the carriage but permitting the operation of the vertical spacing means, said device including a rack member and a detent member engageable with said rack member, one of said members being carried by the carriage and movable relative to the other when the carriage moves, said device also including means rendered effective by the automatic means to cause engagement between said rack member and deten't member each time a Chinese character is printed; and means for disabling the carriage spacing mechanism when the movement of the carriage is prevented by said locking device.

5. In a machine for printing the Chinese language, a carriage for a work sheet, carriage return mechanism including a device operated as a perliminary to a carriage return operation to vertically space the work sheet, means to automatically initiate an operation of the carriage: return mechanism as an accompaniment to the printing of a Chinese character, and means controlled by the initiating means for preventing returning of the carriage so as to space Chinese characters in a vertical line.

6. In a machine of the class described, a carriage for a work sheet, carriage return mechanism including a device for vertically spacing a work sheet, means for causing an automatic operation of the carriage return mechanism each time a character is printed, and means controlled by the last named means for limiting the efiect of said mechanism to operating said device to vertical by space the characters.

7. In a machine of the class described, a carriage for a Work sheet, carriage return mechanism including a device for vertically spacing a work sheet, means for causing an automatic operation of the carriage return mechanism each time a character is printed, means controlled by the last named means for limiting the efiect of said mechanism to operating said device to vertically space the characters, means for spacing said carriage to space characters horizontally, and means for placing said horizontal spacing means under control of said causing means and suppress- 1'6 ing operation of the limiting means when it is desired to horizontally space characters.

U GEN BUHLER.

REFERENCES CITED 'The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date v1,143,404 Kennedy June 15, 1.915 1,188,875 Allard June 27, 1916 1,194,587 Allard Aug. 15, 1916 2,104,007

Bower J an. 4, .1938 

